Friday, June 29, 2012

For some reason I've been all about making my own jewelry this summer.

I just can't justify spending $25-30 on Etsy or Urban Outfitters jewelry when I know I could make the same exact pieces for a small fraction of the price ($2-5 usually!!)

Here are the three pieces I've crafted this past week:

I modeled this necklace off of one on Urban's website... it's such a great place to find jewelry inspiration!! It was especially great since I already had the materials laying around to make it (so essentially it was free! Whoop whoop!!)!

And here are the beauties that I've been lusting over for quite some time now:

Helloberry bracelet dupes!! These were so fun and easy to make, I'm so glad I finally got around to doing it. I'm especially in love with the clear looking one: it's actually GLOW IN THE DARK!!!

And that's it (for now)! I have a few other goodies that I want to start making soon so I'm sure you'll see those within the next couple of weeks!

Monday, June 25, 2012

Unfortunately (for me) it has to be done in order to review (and rave/rant about) this primer.

To start, let me explain the horrific state of my skin:

I have been using the Neutrogena Wave Sonic for almost a full week now and, like the Clarisonic is rumored to do, I'm going through a "purge" stage where all of the nasties that have been lurking deep in my pores are being lifted to the surface, hence all of the acne.*SIGH* I feel like I'm in high school all over again... *ENDSIGH*

Anyways, onto the actual product.

I hauled this in my recent Walmart haul and wanted to try it out as soon as possible; I had my fingers crossed that something so pretty in the bottle would look just as pretty on my face.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

I had a horrible morning (does sobbing the whole way home from work about sum it up?) so I've decided to do everything in my power to pamper myself for the rest of the day.

What better than to create a necklace that's been on your D.I.Y. list for what feels like months now (thanks Letitia/lookunderhere!!) and coat your nails in rainbow sparkle polish while watching "Too Cute!: Kittens" on Animal Planet and munching chocolate potato chip sandwiches (two potato chips with a piece of chocolate in the middle for those of us who don't keep fancy pants chocolate covered potato chips in the house for emergencies)!

Huzzah, and good riddance.

(I didn't clean up around my nail beds before photographing; so sue me)

NYC - #124 Cashmere Creme (two coats on bottom)

Nicole by O.P.I. - RAINBOW IN THE S-KYLIE (one coat on top)

Oh yeah baby, I kid you not: that was only ONE COAT of the glitter polish!! It's so opaque, I'm so happy I'm going to be getting every penny out of this polish.

I also tried out that Sally Hansen Insta-dry polish that I hauled in my last post and I'm really impressed!! It doesn't dry in the 30 seconds that it claims, but it's definitely good to go after one minute!! Time will tell how it holds up against chipping.

And here's the necklace that I crafted from supplies I picked up yesterday (thank god). I changed the design a little bit from Letitia's original (different chains and sizes and a few clasps and security measures) but otherwise I think it turned out great. Can't wait to wear this!!

I wanted to get at least one post in before I head off to work for the night so I figured an outfit of the day was in order!!

All I did today was be-bop around town; I headed to Michael's to pick up crafting supplies to make a few D.I.Y.'s (which I'm sure I'll post once I get them done... which may or may not take forever) and then to Walmart to get some toiletries (and an excuse to buy more cosmetics) which I'll get a haul post up shortly on.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

One of my loveliest friends Carmen gifted me two Stila Lip Glazes for my birthday (along with a fantastic card and envelope that I am still planning on framing to preserve their glory... Pochahontas stickers and "whatever" stickers from our 90's childhood give a glimpse into the awesomeness that is Carmen's art).

I've kind of become a lip gloss convert lately (I think it's because the shine of the gloss matches the gleam of sweat on my face so nicely in this summer heat) so I was really excited to try these out!!

Yesterday was bittersweet; I spent the afternoon with Dana (showing her my favorite Goodwill, stopping at the Bath & BodyWorks sale, and getting the best ice cream the area has to offer) and then had dinner with another of my best friends Katie before she headed to New York to start her new life.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

This was actually all from last Friday (6/15) but I've been neglecting to blog lately...

I blame my job and heat induced laziness. I have been pumping out lots of youtube videos lately though, so check those out!!

Anyways, Macy*s had a two day sale last weekend so I *HAD* to go and get some cookware; I basically only have dishware for my apartment so this was the perfect opportunity to stock up on some kitchen essentials.

My friend Dana (who I mentioned in my first blog post) wanted to come along so we headed to Macy*s when the doors opened at 8AM which made us feel like invaders... there was no one but employees there!! It really felt like we were breaking into the mall so we awkwardly scuttled into the kitchen department and figured out that others just weren't as excited about this sale as we were.

Here's what I got:

Sorry for the quality... I took this on my cell phone so I could send it to my mom (who was out of town).

The potato peeler was the only thing that was not on sale (but I needed one and I was there and it was only $8 and it was eight in the morning and... well... you know how it is) but for these "four" items I only spent $80.

Ohhhhhhhhhh-ho-ho-ho yeahhhhhhhhhhhh.

The blender was $18, the five ceramic mixing bowls were $20, and the 12-piece set of cookware was only $30. SO GOOD I'M STILL SALIVATING OVER THE DEALS I GOT.

The photo below was after 19 hours of industrial dishwashing. Yes, that is 19 continuous hours of grime, intense heat/steam, and scraping burnt on food (since the cooks can only be bothered to use wax paper half the time) off metal and china.

Ready for your jaw to drop?

china glaze - Electric Beat

I recently hauled this polish from ULTA (which I did a post on here if you're interested) and I couldn't be happier. As the title suggests (states, really) this is the first china glaze that I have ever purchased and I must say that I now prefer this over O.P.I.

Yup, I said it.

I only got one minimal chip on my index finger (seen above) and VERY small chips off of the end of each nail but honestly, after all of that dishwashing (nail hell) I can only imagine how long this polish must hold up in a normal person's daily life.

The color is also fantastic; blue nail polish that doesn't lean towards black, grey, or purple seems to be really hard for me to find but this is a TRUE blue with a very subtle pink/purple undertone. Beautiful!!

Along with forgetting to post my thrift tips/haul/ootd video from last week, I also forgot to post a video from a few days ago as well... it's summer, can you blame me?

I thought it might be helpful to do a video on what to wear in rainy weather since, at least in Minnesota, there has been a lot of that lately (mixed in with sweltering heat, humidity, and swarms of mosquitos).

xoxo - Cassie

And by the way, there's another video going up soon (it's up!!)... the upload bar on youtube tells me it'll only be 958 more minutes!!! Haha, I don't think I'll ever get used to how long it takes for youtube to process and upload a video.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

I think I've said it before, but I'll say it again: I have a justification problem.
I walked into ULTA just needing (and honestly, they were NEEDS) a few things but then once I got inside my head kept filling with "well, it is your birthday tomorrow..." or "you finally graduated (with high honors!!) after four hard years..." or, the most typical, "oh, what the hell!!"

After my last nail polish post, you're probably thinking that I'm going to rave about this Sally Hansen nail polish as well.

Nuh-uh.

Look at the chips...

This was such a big let down for me.

I really was excited to wear this nail polish A.) because I just had a really great experience with the brand the last time I painted my nails, and B.) I have been hunting for a color similar to Barry M's Peach Melba which I see on UK beauty bloggers/youtubers all the time. This seemed like such a perfect match!!

Unfortunately, you can see by the state of my nails that this was not a good nail polish. This was after seven hours of industrial dishwashing, mind you, but this polish doesn't just chip, it peels off in sheets.

Another problem is the application.

It took me three (yes, I applied and took off this polish three times) attempts before I was able to figure out the trick to applying this polish. It is such a thick consistency, very reminiscent of a gel, and also a very sheer color. So finding a balance between too thick (gloopy and bubbles) and too thin (poor color pay-off) was a lot of work. Even after I thought I had perfected it, bubbles started appearing about a half hour (yes, that long after!!) after application.

See the bubbles near my cuticles? What a shame...

Sigh.

So I guess I'm on the hunt for a Sorbet dupe. The color really is lovely and everything I've been looking for so it was such a shame that the formula of the polish was such crap.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

I've actually enjoyed you the past couple of months, but this month, my BIRTHDAY month, you just had to go and disappoint me.

I don't know where the lip stain is in this photo... either I was an absolute idiot and just forgot to put it back in the box or else it was so ashamed of itself as a product that it was hiding somewhere (most likely the latter).

Friday, June 8, 2012

You're probably thinking "ugh, not another post of swatches of the NAKED2 Palette..."

Clearly that's what it's going to be, though.

Wellllllllllll I'm hoping this is a little different from what you may have seen before since I've had a hard time myself finding swatches of this palette on skin other than fair/light people.

I also wanted to do this since I've had this palette for about half a year now (please don't judge me too much... you can judge me a little though) but haven't wanted to open it. Again, you're probably thinking I'm crazy; I spent $50 on a makeup palette full of nudes that I probably already have in drugstore palettes!?!?

Yup.

Which is EXACTLY why I haven't been able to bring myself to open/use this palette. With cheaper things laying around, I just couldn't justify using expensive shadows on days where I was just going to class or lounging around the apartment doing laundry.

But now that I have a blog I figured SCREW IT!!! I'm opening this sucker up and defiling its beauty (I'm not even going to touch on the he said/she said jokes on that one...)!!!!

I don't know how people use any brush outside of the E.L.F. Studio brush range.

People seem to always be complaining about how their MAC brushes shed, their Sigma brushes aren't as soft as they would have hoped etc. etc.

Plus, they are EXPENSIVE. I don't know how people walk into a place like MAC or Sephora and walk out with a $30 or $40 brush. GUH. I wouldn't even spend that much on a brush for painting with!!!

The E.L.F. Studio brushes are so unbelievably soft, have never shed even a hair on me, and are CHEAP. $3 per brush? Only $15 for 11 brushes and a travel case on sale?

Oh yeah.

That's about $1.36 a brush.

Let's take a look, shall we?

They even come in individual plastic casing! Fancy.

Look how plush and lovely...

What was also nice was that E.L.F. includes a little packet/pamphlet detailing what each brush is used for. So if you're new to brushes, or if you're stumped on some of the names (like I was... I use multiple products for my "complexion" so what the heck is a complexion brush specifically for!?) and what they're used for then this is your little savior.

School is over, my birthday is right around the corner, and the sun lifts moods by shining bright... all reasons to justify a little retail shopping (therapy), right?

I think SO.

So I may have gone a little overboard with some cosmetic purchases but I have been eyeing these things for so long; every time I would take a break from writing a paper or reading a textbook I would drool all over my computer (which is probably what fried it at the end of the year) and leave me cursing my stranded life at school with no car.

I'm sure by now, most of you are sick of seeing posts about Revlon Lip Butters.

Honestly, I was pretty sick of them myself not too long ago to the point where I promised myself I would never buy one. But somehow one of these suckers found its way into my basket at Target... and then another... and another...

I just can't stop, okay!?

I mean really, lookit' these beauts!!:

Oh yeah...

Oh yeahhhhhh...

Ohoho yeahhhhhhhhh...

Alright, I'll stop. But seriously, these are yummy to almost all the senses:

-yummy packaging

-yummy application

-yummy smelling

-yummy tasting

I only have six (haha, yes, I'm saying only...) of these beauties but I feel like the color range I have is perfect.

Okay, who am I kidding, I'm dying to do these other posts that I took pictures for this morning.

This particular post is going to be about something that I was expecting nothing from but ended up being utterly delighted with it. That product happens to be Sally Hanson Xtreme Wear Nail Polish (in Mellow Yellow).

Now, I must digress, I have two other polishes from this line that I'm not so keen on; they're fine but I don't like settling for something fine when I'm spending hard earned money on it.

However, I was really on the hunt for some yellow nail polish (and other brands weren't buttery enough in color for me [too neon]). Why? I honestly have no idea. All I knew was that I was starting my summer job of washing dishes for a catering company (yup, pretty glamorous, I know) and I had to chop off my beloved nails once again to avoid the pain of breaking them on pots, pans, and scrubbing grit all night.

When I put it that way, you must be wondering why I paint my nails at all. Well, as much as I dislike chipped nail polish, I hate the sight of gunk and food under my nails even more. Hence, I use nail polish to cover all that up (out of sight, out of mind, you know?).

And BAM!! Lookit' those suckers!!! This was after seven hours of industrial dishwashing and, here's the real kicker, NO BASE OR TOP COAT.

I kid you not.

So go! Go to your nearest drug store and pick up a bottle of this nail polish if you are looking for something bright and cheery for summer or if you just want a no maintenance nail polish for an even lazier life.

What are your favorite nail polishes that can withstand the tests of hard labor?

This has had me biting my nails (figuratively) for such a long time now and has been what has really postponed my starting a blog... I just didn't know how to start things off! I'm sure many of you can relate...

So anyhoo, I figured I would start with a post about two of my loves: thrifted clothing and cats.

Can't you see the utter joy on my face when this little guy finally came over to me (aka when I pulled him out from under the bed... but that's besides the point)??

One of my best friends, Dana, from middle school (we bonded over Sailor Moon in Mr. Beer's history class [yes, we've been close (and geeky) for ten years now]), just rescued/adopted this little guy on Friday and I just HAD to go visit. I'm looking forward to adopting my own kitten at the end of August so this was kind of a pick-me-up until then.

I mean REALLY, lookit' that face!!

Dana named the cutie "Jem" which couldn't be more appropriate... he really is precious!!